Dang Girl, You Made That?

Remember how in my last post I hinted about a lot of cool stuff happening with the bike? Well, I'll let you in on a secret, Gretta is home. I'm playing catch up. I hadn't really had time to blog about everything as it happened, but I'm so proud of the different steps of the process and the things that I learned during them so they're being included in this blog.

I know in the last post I had told you guys I had become a fabricator, and this entry is dedicated to me fabricating a part for Gretta. Gretta has coaster brakes and if you guys haven't seen coaster brakes before there's a little tab that sticks out to connect the brake hub to the bike. Once G knew that we were dealing with coaster brakes, he told me we'd have to find a way to connect it to the frame. Luckily, my wonderful boyfriend knows how to fabricate parts and suggested we fabricate our own piece. So that's what we did. In the process, I learned how to use a lot of different tools. I wish we had gotten pictures of me using these tools because I feel like most people won't believe me when I say I used them. But I did. So there!

First we had to measure around the back spoke to see how long of a piece of sheet metal we were going to need. Once we had done that we marked it and headed to the band saw. I was actually quite frightened to be using this little guy. He's intimidating. G soothed my nerves and helped me set it up. Next thing I knew we had a rectangular piece to work with. Following this we needed to create rounded edges. G helped me mark them up, and we went over to the belt sander. If I was frightened to use the band saw, I had no desire to be any where near the belt sander. When we started to get ready to use it, G noticed we needed to change the sand paper belt that was on it. The second he turned on the machine to position the belt it started tearing pieces off. I might have squeaked,but if I did I don't think G heard me. Using the belt sander was interesting, it required a certain amount of pressure and the right movement to get the edges nice and smooth. I got the different edges rounded, but G had to do the final touches because let's face it, I can only do so much.

Once we finished with the belt sander, I got to use a drill press. G figured out the positioning and the diameter of the holes, and we got down to it. Frankly, the drill press didn't freak me out at all. It wasn't buzzing and darting back and forth like the band saw. It wasn't ripping sheets of sand paper apart. Once we drilled the two holes I got to use my favorite machine ever-the sand blaster. Remember in the beginning how I used the sand blaster A LOT to take paint off of Gretta's different parts. Well, I got reaaal good at it. Okay maybe not at professional standards but at my "I've never used tools for real before" standards. I got to sand blast the part, and then it was time to bend it. G started out by bending the piece by hand, but that could only do so much. It took the power of the vice to bend it the rest of the way.

After we got it bent in the right position we hooked it up on Gretta. Here's the part where you guys get a picture. If you've read all this so far, High Five! If you haven't, I totally understand.

Dang guys, all that work for that tiny little part. I'm super proud of it though. Gretta totally needed it to be able to ride and brake properly!

On that same day, I got a surprise from G's dad. Remember those garages filled with magical items, G's dad had one of my dream items just laying around. A Schwinn bell! That's right people, a bell. I had told you all that it was on my list of eventual parts to get, and I was super excited to be given one. G's dad even had another one which G might put on his bike if we go about building him a bike.

Gretta just looks even happier with a bell on her. In case you were wondering what the bell sounds like, check out the video above.

The next entry is going to be awesome. You guys, I'm so excited to share the final product with all of you. It's been a long process, but it was totally worth it. Until then, keep the bike ridin'.

I swear I have a bike

So, it's been a while readers. I have no excuse except for being down with school and having no desire to do anything really. You know, besides try to finish my bike, cook, bake, and make stuff. I owe you guys an entry about putting together most of my bike. I do believe in April, towards the end, G and I took a Saturday to put together most of Gretta. You know, everything that I had right then.

If you remember Gretta was in a bunch of pieces at this point. The last thing we had really done was get the lady painted, find a donor bike, and start the process of finding stuff for Gretta. Well in one day we got Gretta looking GOOOD. I'm really excited to share with you guys the stuff that we did.

When we got to G's that day my chubby handle bar grips were there. Yeah. That's right they're called Chubbies.

We started out the work day by taking the donor bike apart. I got the donor bike to get the braking hub and white wall tires primarily. We took the tires off of the donor bike and learned that we were going to need to switch the wheel on the front tire. The hub it was on was too large to fit in the front. Gretta is a petite little lady. Luckily in the magic garage of everything that G's dad has collected for YEARS we found another wheel that had the same number of spokes that had originally been in the front of Gretta. We needed to take that tire off, however, because it was an ugly mountain bike tire. Nothing against mountain bikes, it just didn't gel with my aesthetics for Gretta. The whole process of switching tires was interesting. I'm glad G was there to help me along and make sure I didn't kill the tire. If you've never had to do this, it's a fun process. Trust me. First we had to deflate the tire and then get it off the original wheel. This took a combination of me holding the wheel, G pulling on the tire, and me handing him a screwdriver to get the tire off the wheel in tricky spots. Basically G did most of the work. After we got it off the original wheel, we placed it on the new wheel and pumped that tire up! It was a good thing we switched out the wheels because the new one has a front release which will come in handy when we have to transport Gretta.

After we took care of the tire, I got to get my hands DIRTY. The bushings from my bike were 34 years old and frankly needed a little grease to get them back and running. G let me have fun with this, and I got to great up two different sets of bushings for the steering column and of course in the pedal area.

See, my hands got gross. It was awesome.
After we got those greased up properly we started putting everything together.

 Handle Bars on...looking gooood.

 We decided to go ahead and put the chubbies on Gretta because she looked a little naked. I think she looks awesome :)

The white walls are definitely a nice touch to the overall aesthetic of the bike. Gretta definitely needed white walls.

Everything went smoothly until we went to install the pedals. Apparently somebody had tried to put the wrong pedal in one of the holes and had messed up some of the threads. G had to take out about a 1/8 inch of threads to get the pedal in. Thank goodness. We really didn't want to have to search out some new pedals. Our list of things to get was already long enough.

One of the other things we had to do with Gretta was pretty awesome because I got to become a fabricator. Well at least 75% of a fabricator. I still have some work to do to get all the way there. Check out the next post where you'll get a laugh out of me trying to use tools and get to share in the excitement of us finding some parts...even if they weren't necessary parts. Until then, keep the bike ridin'

Where did you go?

Oh my lovelies, life has been insane. G and I haven't even gotten to work on Gretta in weeks. I know that I promised to tell you all about the latest work we've done to Gretta in the last post, but tonight will not be the night. I wanted to drop in and let everyone know the project wasn't dead. I'm just under a mountain of homework that is all due at once since it's the end of the school year. My last assignment is due on Monday, and after that I'm going to do a huge update about Gretta and how beautiful she is! Until then, I hope you can all enjoy this lovely little video that expresses what I wish I was doing instead of homework.

Keep the Bike Ridin'

Donor Bike!

Hey! I hope your weeks(the last two) have been way better than mine in the fun department. I've spent way too much time working on projects which turned out nicely. Since school is in high gear, I've had to step away from working on Gretta...well for the most part. However I did hint at getting a lot of things we needed thanks to the powers of Craigslist. Get prepared to be amazed.

G and I have really made it our goal to make this bicycle look good on a budget. I didn't want to spend a lot of money fixing up Gretta just in case I find out that I don't want to be a bicycler. When it came time to look for tires, rims, and hubs(for coaster brakes), it soon became obviously to us that it was going to be get super costly if we weren't careful. G and I had talked about our options, and G mentioned Craigslist. Of course, Craigslist to the rescue right? After a day or so of searching and sending awkward e-mails and calling people, we found a bike. We didn't dare tell the girl who was selling it that it was going to be a donor bike. Craigslist dealings are always weird and this one was no exception. We didn't get kidnapped or anything and made it back to G's dad's with the bike. Wanna see what we had to work with? Of course you guys do!

Look at that glorious bike! I'm only kidding. I wasn't really in love with that bike but it had a coaster brake, white wall tires, and rims we needed. It wasn't a bad deal.

I know this was a short entry, but Get ready for the next one where we're going to talk about how your girl is now a fabricator. At least 75% of a fabricator. Oh and there might be a few update pictures because G and I did sneak a little time in last weekend to work on the bike. Until then Keep the bike ridin'!

Where You From?

Hey Guys and Dolls! I hope you're all having a super sweet week! Things are getting a little stressful with school being almost done (only a few more weeks), but I'm surviving. I'm super excited for this blog entry though because it's all about finding out about Gretta's history.

One of the cool things I learned during this process was what the serial number that Schwinn put on their bikes tells about them. The placement of the serial number can tell you about the era/where the bicycle was assembled. I found my serial number on the headtube near the bottom of it where the forks come out. Originally I didn't know what it meant so I sought out information on the internet.  I soon learned that this meant that my bike was built in Chicago, What up CHI TOWN?!, and that the bike was probably from 1970 to 1979. I then learned that in the serial number the letters can tell you what year and month your bike was made. My first two letters were EP. So Gretta came into this world in May of 1978. How neat is that? I love knowing these things.

I can only imagine what Gretta's previous owners did with her and the life that she's gotten to lead thus far. Hopefully she enjoys her new make over and life with me.

Keep your eyes open guys! I've got exciting news about parts acquisitions! G and I are planning on getting down to work this weekend, and we're definitely bringing the camera along. Until next time, Keep the Bike Ridin'!

I'm on the hunt I'm after you!

Today was a beautiful day here in Indy! It would have been an epic day to go for a bike ride. Since the bike isn't fixed and I had other things I had to do, I settled for enjoying an iced armaretto latte and taking every chance I had at walking around outside.

Progress on the bike is now going to be a little slow going because we now need to start gathering up parts that we need to get. Like I said in previous entries we were really lucky with this bike because we had most of the body. However, we do have a little list of things we need to get. I figured it'd be fun to create this list so that when we checked something off the list you guys could celebrate with me!

1. Seat post, clamp, and seat. One of the things we noticed when we found the bike that there was no seat on the frame. We didn't think this was odd or anything because his dad had taken parts of the bike off it. When we searched the garage and asked G's dad, we found out that we don't have a seat post, clamp or a seat. When it comes to these parts I want to try to find/use Schwinn parts because I do want the bike to remain true to the Schwinn style. Seat wise I've looked at a few of the seat that Schwinn has out in stores and there are a few options. That being said, I'm going to try to avoid a banana seat unless it's going to be the best fit for the bike.

2. Handle bar grips. These I know exactly which grips I want.

These bad boys. They were originally on the handlebars but we weren't able to save them when we went to paint the handlebars. I love their style and appreciate the little ridges for fingers. They're precious. Definitely going to get a pair of these guys!

3. New Tires. I really want white wall tires because they really scream '50s to me. I know that my bike is from '78 but the hollywood appeared in the '50s and by George I'm going to have a '50s/'60s bike.

4. Brakes. Schwinn Hollywoods use the rear brakes that require you to pedal backwards. I haven't used that type of break on a bike since I was 6. However I'm excited! We'll be keeping our eyes out and doing research as to what exactly we'll be needing to make this happen. When I know, I'll let you guys know!

5.Master link or new chain. I talked about this in a previous entry. We're hoping to use the original chain because it looks like it's in great shape. A master link is a relatively cheap solution. One of the great things though is that even getting a new chain isn't all that expensive. I believe I saw one for $7 at wal-mart the other day when I was looking at bike stuff.

Those are all the things we need right now to get the bike up and going. Eventually I'd like to add on a few other things. For non-essential bike purchases, I want to get the following items:

1. Fenders

I think the fenders(the coverings of the front and back wheels) really give this bike some character. While it'll look fine without them, I know that they'll really make the bike what I want it to be in the long run.

2. Wire bike basket. I really want a basket on my bike. I started looking at these the second I knew I wanted to get a bike. While I won't be using this bike as a daily rider or commuter bike, I would like to be able to have a bit of storage just in case we find stuff when we ride along the monon trail!

3. A bell. Yeah, I'm that cheesey bike rider. I want a bell on my bike to ring. You'll be able to hear me coming from like a fifth of a mile away!

See, we're going to be busy bees trying to track down all of these parts. Keep your eyes out for the next entry where I'll tell you guys about finding the serial number on the bike and learning about Gretta's history. Until then enjoy the weather guys and keep the bike ridin'!

Bike Chain, Bike Chain, You Tricky Little Thing

Hey all! Spring Break is done for G and I so it's back to the grind for us. Luckily we still have the weekends to work on the bike and other stuff. Last time I told you guys that we had an interesting experience with my bike chain when it came time to paint the bike. It was a great learning experience for me. G and I had painted different parts of the bike and wanted to start working on the frame but noticed that the bike chain was wrapped around it. G told me not to worry because he was sure we could get the chain off the bike. G's dad was in the garage at this time and decided to give me a little mini lesson on bike chains. Apparently newer bike chains have these things called master links that enables a rider to unhook the link and change out the chain if it's necessary. G's dad decided to help me look for a master link on this chain. He had assumed it was a newer chain. When we kept looking, we realized it was most likely the original chain on the bike. There was no master link! Now you might be wondering "how in the world did you get that chain off the bike, Hollie?" Well readers this was an interesting process. G and his dad saved the day. First they took a grinder to the top little bump of one of the links. G's dad was sure that he was going to be able to take it apart easily after that. Well, he was wrong! They had to take a hammer and little chisel to one of the links and knock it off. We got the chain removed. I never knew any of that about bike chains. We're probably going to soak the old chain in oil and add a master link to it. If the bike chain had survived since May '78, it obviously was made really well.

Hopefully this weekend G and I can spend a little time fixing up Gretta, the Schwinn Hollywood. She just seemed like a Gretta to me. I'm really excited because my mom and dad decided to contribute to the "Let's get Hollie's bike riding" fund so we can really get moving on some the parts we  need. Check back in for the next entry about all the stuff Gretta still needs to get up and going!

Turquoise Bike

One of the first things G and I started to talk about when we decided to build this bike was the color. When I saw the bike, I was automatically in love with it. It had a shape that reminded me of the '50s and '60s, and for those of you who don't know me I'm a sucker for most things fashion/car/style wise from this time period. G always laughs at me because my dream car is a '57 Chevy Bel Air painted a pastel purple. Yep, I love pastels. I don't wear them but aesthetically they're some of my favorite colors to look at. Initially when we started talking about the paint color for this bike I told G I wanted a pastel light purple with cream. Just like my dream car. However, I also thought the bike would look awesome in a teal-y/turquoise with cream. I just knew I wanted to stay true to the time period that the bike was from.

The next day we went to get paint. G assured me that we could get a nice look using spray paint. I know what you're thinking "Spray paint?" Well trust me, I was a little unsure at first, but G knows more about restoring stuff then I ever will. When we went to get the paint at Loews, I couldn't find the initial color that G and I had found online and there weren't any colors like it. Right before my eyes the bike plans had to change. I started looking at other colors and that's when I found a color that I decided I liked better...turquoise. Or as Valspar likes to call it "exotic sea" with a gloss to it.  I initially paired "exotic sea" with a white, but when we started painting I realized it wasn't going to work.

G suggested that with the paint to make sure I liked the color that we initially just paint the chainguard. I was all for this and we took it back to the garage. One of the great things about this project is that G's dad has all sorts of tools and machines that we can use to make this bike look superb. One of these machines is a sandblaster. That's right world, I know how to use a sandblaster now. G is all about making sure I get to help during this project so he taught me how to use the sandblaster. I have to admit I was a bit nervous at first but I just went for it because G assured me that I couldn't hurt the piece at all. For those of you who haven't seen a sandblaster before it's this big box that has a thick plexiglass panel on the top of it. You basically place the piece inside the box, turn on your light,  turn on the vaccum cleaner to suck out excess sand, and hook up your air hose to the machine to power it. You have these weird gloves built into the machine that you place your hands in and then you can use the gun inside to strip off the paint.

It was slow going for a while with the sandblaster. One thing I can say for Schwinn is that when they painted a bike(in '78) they painted a bike. It was tough to get it off. Eventually G took a grinder to the paint to get rid of part of the paint to be able to use the sandblaster better. Once that happened I spent a good 40 minutes sandblasting the chainguard. After that we scuffed up the piece with a scotchbrite pad and then took some acetone to it. Next G sprayed it with a little primer and following that he did three coats of "exotic sea." Guys when it dried, I almost cried because it was beautiful!

This is after it had cured for a little bit? It's so beautiful. I love it so much, and I'm extremely glad that I didn't go with a light purple after all. Since I liked the color so much, G said we could go ahead and keep painting different piece for the bike. I knew for sure that out of the pieces we had for it I wanted the frame, upright or rise (whatever you want to call it), and the forks this teal-y/turquoise color. We set about sandblasting, sanding, and cleaning up these pieces to get the ready for painting. G took the grinder to the forks for a while because since it's such a large piece and this paint is tough it would have taken forever in the sandblaster. We had learned that my hands cramp up after about 30 minutes of sandblasting and I turn into a slight baby. Yep, I complained a little bit. So after we had taken care of the piece with the grinder it was to the sandblaster with it. I cleaned both the pieces up and G painted the forks.

Up to this point it seems like G has done most of the painting right? That's because he had. I have a confession to make I haven't really used spray paint before, and I didn't want to jack up my bike. G told me that he would primer the riser, and let me actually paint it. I didn't want to at first, but G said if it got messed up we'd just sand it down and start again. I agreed to and guys guess what? I suck at spray painting. Well compared to G, but I can do a decent job of it. We didn't even have to sand it down, and now my bike has a piece of it painted by me.

The next day G and I stopped to pick up supplies before heading back to the garage. While we were at the store I exchanged my white spray paint for a cream color from Rust-oleum. It's called biscuit. It's a slight off white, and we thought it would be less shocking than the white against it. Once we got back to the shop, we started sanding down the frame the rest of the way, and ruffed up the handle bars. G painted the handle bars with the cream paint. However, it had some runs underneath one of the layers and that's where the fun began. We had to let the paint dry a little bit, and then took some different products to loosen up the paint so I could scrub it off. Don't doubt my love for this bike. I was squatting for what felt like ages cleaning up the bike. Now my thighs hurt. I better get in shape soon so I can enjoy my bike, right? Once we fixed the bars we let them dry, and I was plesantly surprised with how the color turned out.

It's going to be a nice constrast, right? After the handlebars it was back to the frame. Guys, G deserves a million hugs and kisses because he sanded that frame by hand. I apparently am not so awesome with sand paper. When you sand stuff if you aren't careful you can leave bad scratches in the frame. G thought it'd be better for him to sand the bike down. I held the bike, and have a few bruises to prove it. Once it was sanded down G started the process of painting the frame. I've said it like 50 times in this entry already but I'm in love with this color. G did such a great job on the frame.

Mid Sanding. Yep. He spent a ton of time on sanding this piece.

Look how closely it matches the cap color. Way to go Valspar! We also painted a few bolts and other little pieces the biscuit color. I'll get pictures of those for another entry. Most of the bike is now painted, or at least the pieces of the bike that we found in the garage.

Keep your eyes open for my next entry about our adventure with the orginal chain we found on the bike!

 

Getting Started

Hello out there! My name is Hollie, I'm 22, and I'm a biking noob. Yep, that's right a noob. The last time I rode an actual bike was probably about 7 or 8 years ago. I had this cheapo little 12 speed mountain bike that I wasn't really in love with but it did the job. Every couple of days when it was warm I'd get the urge to ride my bike around the neighborhood. I'd ride and ride until I was so tired I couldn't ride anymore. I guess once I got further into my teen years my bike wasn't quite so fun anymore, and I quickly tossed it to the side.

The question that you might be asking yourself now is "Why are you blogging about bikes?" Well, it's a long story. I blame this on my friends, Chris and Jason. For Christmas this year Jason didn't really know what to get his wife, Chris. He decided the best way to figure out what to get her was to go wandering around wal-mart to see what caught his eyes. If you ask Jason he'd tell you, the moment he walked into the bike aisle and saw that purple beach cruiser his mind was made up. He stopped by my house to show me how awesome Chris' Christmas gift was going to be, and I was jealous. Chris loved her bike, and soon after receiving it bought Jason the same bike in black.

With the weird weather we have here in Indiana, there have been a few days already this year where it's been perfect bike riding weather. Each time we've had this beautiful weather, Chris would tell me about how her and Jason had gone riding around their neighborhood on their bikes. She'd also bug me about getting a bike. The more I listened to her talk about riding her bike the more I missed riding even if it was just around the neighborhood. I knew that I wanted to get a bike to ride around. I had started to look at bikes at different major retail stores, and I hadn't been super impressed by them. They seemed to be rather poorly constructed, and they were all too "modern" looking.  I had casually mentioned to my boyfriend, G, that I really wanted to get a bike, and that's where this whole thing began.

G is rather handy and can build and make just about anything. While we were talking about bikes, he said it would be really fun to build a bike together. I totally agreed with him. I loved the idea of building something together. After our initial conversation, G had said that he was pretty sure that his dad had an old bike frame sitting around in his garage. Sure enough on our next visit we found an old Schwinn bike frame sitting in the garage. Upon looking at the bike frame we determined it was an old Hollywood frame. It looked like it was from the '50s or '60s, and I was definitely in love with it.G asked his dad if he was doing anything with the frame, and his dad said that he wasn't and told us we could do whatever we wanted with it. That night we spent a few hours looking at different old Schwinn bikes on e-bay and discussed possible paint colors for the bike.

Literally the next day we started the process of fixing up the Schwinn Hollywood for me to ride around. I'm super excited. Like I said before, I really don't know much about bikes. However, I love to learn, and I'm taking this project as an opportunity to learn more about bikes and biking in general. I thought one of the best ways to remember this project with G would be to start a blog documenting our process for our friends, family, and any one else interested in fixing up bikes. On this blog, you'll get to see our progress, hear about the different things I'm learning, and hear funny stories from our journey.  I look forward to sharing this process with you guys!

Keep your eyes out for my next post where I'll be sharing a little bit about our experience painting the frame of the bike!